Shell-fish dredger.



A. A. COE.

SHELL FISH DREDGER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, 1918. Lf. Patented OCI. 29, 1918.

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A. A. COE.

SHELL FISH DREDGER.

APPLICATION FILED rss. 25. 191s.

Patented Oct. 29, 1918.,

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Specification Vof Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 29, 192118.

Application ledFebruary 25,1918. v s eriailo. 218,925.

To all whom t may` concern:

Be it known that I, ADDISON ALGER Con, a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, county of Kings, `andvState of New York, have invent-ed certain `new and useful `Improvements in Shell-Fish Dredgers, set forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to shell-fish dredgers. i

Many species of shell-fish such as the clam family, including skiinmers and mussels, are usually located several inches below the ocean bed and under a. considerabledepth of water, many times in abundance in water over twenty feet deep. `Heretofore it has been the practiceto dredge these shell-fish with `a pairof swiveled tongs, each tong having a long handle. Then the handles were opened out, the tongs were opened. By forcing the handles downward and inwardly, the tongs would be forced beneath the sand and together, to grasp whatever shell-flish might beeugaged therebetween. It was then necessary` to lift up the tongsfby the handles in either hand and dump the catch ina boat, if

there was any Aca-t'chan empty haul being not infrequent. With this practice, the neces- Sary spread at the top 0f the handlesto completely open the tongs `has prevented -satisfactory ldredging in water deeper than about ten feet. i

An object of the present invention is to make possible and convenient' shell -f'ish dredging in `water of relativelygreat depth, say atleast twenty-five`feet,and also to increase the speed and ease with which .such dredging may be accomplished under water of any depth'. Y

In the furtherance of these y general objects, 1 propose to adapt a dredging mechanism to operation through the medium of a single handle. I further propose tofacilitate the driving of tongsinto` the ocean bed `by means' ofother than brute force, specifically through the `medium of repeated blows of a single handle acting like a ram or pile driver.

I further propose to facilitate the entrance vention will better be understood ,byz reference to the illustrative embodiment described in the following specification inconnection` with the accompanyingillustrative drawings, which ,form a part hereof, in

Fg. 4 is a left-hand side elevation of th structure shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is an elevation, drawn to a reduced scale, `of the apparatus from the side viewed inFig. l, but with the inechanism in position` to discharge the catch; and

Fig. 6 isa fragmentary view corresponding to 1, showing af modification.

`A foot l, preferably comprising alinetal plate `offconsiderable width, mounts a noncircular upright stein 2, conveniently fabricated of steel-stock, which `may Vbe secured to the foot l as by riveting. The stein 2 is provided with a iiXed enlargement 3 at its upper end, preferably shaped and of a size to lit as a guide within the tubular rain 4, the bottom of which is closed with a cap or other suitable "i'iXed closure 5, having va guiding `perforation having Va non-circular contour, 4like the stein 32. `;Thus the ram t may move up along the stein 2 until the enlargement 3 engages the head 5 and may move down on the stem 2 until the cap 5 strikes the togglehead 6, `preferably of tubular construction, having atop closure 7 slidable upon the stein 2 anda bottom closure 8 slidable upon. the stein 2.' Pivoted in suitable trunnions?) and 9a aretwo sets of toggle-arms l0 and 10a, operatively. linking the arcuate tongs 11 and 1la with the toggle-head G. The tongs 11 and 11i have setsof inwardly extending radius arms 12and 12a respectively, the inner ends of which are hinged by hinges 13 and 13V to the foot lat approximately the center of curvature of the arcuate tongs 1l and 11, so that, whenthe tongs pivot upon these hinges the tines move in a circular path corresponding substantially to their contour,

and further in consequence displace nothing more than their own bulk or, in other words, Vdofiiot sweep laterally through the` ocean bed but merely penetrate, although, on account of their circular movement, their ends come together as shown by the dot and dash lines in Fig. 1 and byA full lines in Fig. 5. V

The ram 4 pieferably has threads 14 at its top end to secure the threadedY coupling 15, anchored to a handle 16 of suitable length.' The upper end of the handle preferably has a perforation 17 to secure the knotted end 18 of a cord 19, the bottom end of which is secured to the head 6 in a suitable manner, as by the lug 20, which serves as means for lifting the head 6 independently of the foot 1 and stem 2.

Of an extent preferably to extend out beyond the tongs 11 and 11, are suitably fixed to the stem 2 on swivels two connecting links 22 and 22a, the outer ends of which areI hinged by pins 23 and 23a to a catch basket B. The position of the pins 23 and 23a' is preferably to the right of its gravity axis, viewed in Fig. 1 and iiexible links 24 and 24a are connected between the frame of the basket and intermediate points on the links 22 and 22, so as to hold the basket B in a horizontal position when suspended, as shown in Fig. 5.

It should be noted that the toggle-arms 1 0 and 10a are shown having three legs b, c and d. This is a preferred construction when the tongs are of considerable size, although it is of course to be understood that the legs and al alone would be useful and'satisfactory in some instances, and for small sizes of tongs that a single central leg c might be sufiicient. s

For operation, all that is necessary is to lower the dredger through the water until the foot 1 rests upon the ocean bed. A few blows of the ram 4, operated by an up-anddown .movement of the single handle 16 causes the toggle-head 6 to impart the force of the blows through the toggle-arms 10 and 10a to the tongs 11 and 11, which are forced to swivel on theirliinges, so that the points of the tines follow the paths shown in Fig. 1 through the sand to envelop any shell-fish, such as indicated by e between the tines. When the tongs have been forced home all that is then necessary is to lift the single handle 16 which, by the cap 5 engaging the enlargement 3, lifts the stem 2 and with it the foot 1. The radius arms 12 and 12a engaging the hinge pins 13 and 13a' cannot rotate downwardly any farther and the component of forces upon the arcuate tongs due to the clasped sand and shell-fish is such as not to tend to open the tongs. The catch is therefore lifted out of the sand, the sand flows through the tines. The links 22 and 22a relatively guide the dredger mechanism and the basket into relative positions shown in Fig. 5. A pull upon the cord 19 then lifts i the head 6 Vindependently of the stem 2,

which lifting through the operation of the toggle arms 10 and 10il opens the tongs to drop the catch into the basket B, which at thisw time is pendant or resting upon the ocean 'bed beneath the dredger. During this operation it is very easy to determine how `nearly full the basket B has become by the increase in weight after the mechanism has been swiveled upwardly on the links 22 and In Fig. 6, I' have shown a central tong 30, Y

the tines of which project centrally straight downwardly from a cross-bar 31. With such a structure, it is conceivable that either one or the other of the arcuate tongs 11 or A11at might be eliminated, `together with its operating mechanism, and theV remaining arcuatetong be employed to coperate with the stationary downwardly projecting tong 30 to produce a mechanism of half theca- `pacity of my preferred form. I show this modification for the purpose of eliminating the possibility of an infringement of my rights byany such adaptation, which I consider to be covered by my claims, although I have expressed thereina pair of tongs. `'I naturally contemplate a single in'ovable tong coperating with a stationary tong. Y

What I claim and what I desire to secure by United `States Letters Patent is 1. A `shell-fisli dredger comprising a pair of hinged sand penetrating tongs; and

`means for positively forcing said 'tongs downward and together at ,theirtips `comprising only one upwardly extending operating handle, rigid connecting arms between said tongs and said handle and a 'slack connection between said arms and handle so that said handle may deliver blows to operate said arms. l

2. A shell-fish dredger comprising a foot adapted to rest upon the ocean bed; a pair of tongs hinged relatively to said foot; a toggleehead; toggle-arms operatively connecting said toggle-head with said tongs and means for effecting a downward movement of said togglehead to force said tongs into said bed, comprising a vertically guided ram for delivering blows to said togglehead.

3. In a shell-fish dredger a relatively stationary foot and vertical guide-stem; a pair of tongs hinged relatively thereto; and a vertically movable ram guided by said stein for progressively operating said tongs a Y a non-cireular guide-stem extending upwardly from said foot and having an enlargement at its top; a togglediead movably guided by said stem; a pair of tongs hinged to said foot; toggle-arms operatively connecting said tongs and said head; a tubular ram for striking blo-ws upon said head having a closure at its lower end fitting said non-circular stem to prevent relative rotation and inclosing said enlargement; and means for lifting said head independently of said foot.

5. In combination, shell-ish dredging mechanism comprising operating tongs and means for lowering and raising said tongs upon and from the shell-fish bed; a catch basket; a pair of parallel arms hinged at one end to said mechanism and at the other end to said basket, whereby a lowering of said mechanism causes a lateral separation of said mechanism and basket and a raising" of said mechanism causes a superposed positioning of said mechanism relatively to said basket.

6. In a shell-isli dredger, a guide-stem having a foot adapted to rest upon the surface of a shell-sh bed; a pair of tongs hinged to said stem and having` a closing movement beneath said foot; toggle mechanism having a head guided on said stem and arms for operating said tongs; an operating road free to move relatively to said stem and operable as a ram to force down by blows said toggle head to close said tongs when lsaid foot remains stationary.

7'. In a shell-fish dredger, a guide-stem having a foot adapted to rest upon the surface of a shell-fish bed; a pair of tongs ,hinged to said stem and having a closing movement beneath said foot; toggle mechanism having a head guided on said stem and arms for operating said tongs; an operating rod free to move relatively to said stem and operable as a ram to force down by blows said toggle head to close said tongs when said foot remains stationary; and means for lifting said stem independently of said rod.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, this 23rd day of February, 1918.

ADDISON ALGER COE.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for ve cents each, 'by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

